All That Matters: A Duskwood Fanfic

15: Another Place, Another Day

"Let's play twenty questions." I said turning down the radio. We'd been in the car for a few hours now on our way to a hotel. The time in the cabin had come to an end, I'd wanted to stay longer but we'd stayed too long. Jake hoped we'd be able to settle somewhere for more than a few days but right now it just wasn't a good idea. "I'll go first. Did you have any pets growing up?"

"A dog, Sadie." A smile played on his lips. "She was an Australian Shepherd, most energetic dog ever. I used to have to run her for miles just so she would stop chewing my mom's slippers. What's your favorite color?"

"Green. Like grass and leaves." I answered quickly. Jake and I were getting to know each other, like really getting to know each other. If I was being honest before this, I'd barely known anything about him. How had I fallen in love with a man I knew almost nothing about? Logically it didn't make much sense, but now that he was opening up...my heart had been on the right track all along. "What is your middle name?"

Jake's lips pursed. "Xaiver."

"Jacob Xavier. I like it." I smiled taking a sip of my water.

I could get used to letting Jake doing the driving. He'd tried to convince me that I should drive since it was my car, which may have worked but the car we were driving wasn't technically mine. Before we'd left the cabin, I'd contacted my Uncle Leo to arrange for a car to pick up for us discreetly. We couldn't keep driving the same car that the FBI had seen me in. All it would take was them to report the car and Jake would be in custody.

You might be wondering how a girl like me, someone who'd never been on the wrong side of the law, had the forethought to do something like this. When your dad and brother have the jobs mine had, you tended to pick up a few things. And not always the things that they wanted you to learn.

"When was your last serious relationship?" Jake asked.

Okay, so Jake wasn't shying away from the tough questions. That just meant that he was opening himself up for whatever questions popped into my mind. "Uh, I guess when I was around seventeen." The same year that my brother died. I didn't elaborate any further. That past didn't matter, which is exactly why I wasn't going to ask Jake about his previous relationships.

The sun was starting to set, and although we were both night owls neither of us wanting to be driving around in the dark when we had no idea where we were. You might think that the best time to run or drive away would be at night and you'd be half right. One car was easier to spot and remember, a ton of cars? No one would ever notice us that way. Plus, I was getting tired of sitting in the car. You can only be comfortable for so long sitting like this.

Jake pulled off at the next exit, the sign promising food and lodging. It only took a few minutes to get checked in. We took the elevator up to the third floor; Jake had tried to get a first-floor room, but they were all full up. I watched as he scanned the halls as though he was mapping the place out. With a quick swipe of the keycard, we enter our room.

It was larger than I expected, with a clear sitting room, a large bed with a TV directly across from them. The bathroom was large, but only held a small shower, toilet, and sink. They could have easily fit a large shower or bath in here but for some reason hadn't. Jake dropped our bags on the couch and pulled out my pair of slippers. I'd gotten us both a pair at the store. There was no way I was going to walk barefoot in a hotel. I even had shower shoes. I'd watched enough documentaries to know better.

Checking my texts, I noticed another message from my mom and ignored it. She'd already started asking for money, typical. Instead, I ordered a pizza from a local place whose flyer was sitting on the desk.